Boys are Back
by djk1982
Summary: Spike returns from the dead. But he does not come back alone, and now he needs the rest of the Bebop crew to help him track down a killer more lethal than any ever before. UPDATE! A sequel is coming!
1. Default Chapter

Greetings all. Hope you enjoy the story. It has this rating due to some graphic violence and course language, but hey, it would not be Cowboy Bebop without all that, right? Also, this is my first fic, so please read and respond and be gentle with me. All normal disclaimers apply, Cowboy Bebop does not belong to me, nor do any of its characters. There is an original character in this fic, and I would appreciate it no one would use him without my permission. Also, none of the song lyrics used in this fic belong to me, I just used them for convenience sake. Read, and ejoy!  
  
Cowboy Bebop  
  
Boys are Back  
  
Guess who just got back today?  
  
Them wild-eyed boys that had been away  
  
Haven't changed, haven't much to say  
  
But man, I still think them cats are crazy  
  
They were asking if you were around  
  
How you was, where you could be found  
  
Told them you were living downtown  
  
Driving all the old men crazy  
  
The boys are back in town  
  
THIN LIZZY  
  
TAP, TAP, TAP.  
  
Don't know what this is.it feels good.warm.floating on air.  
  
TAP, TAP, TAP.  
  
Is this death? Am I in hell? Maybe this is heaven.  
  
TAP, TAP, TAP.  
  
Is that my heartbeat? Can I really hear anything? Can I feel anything?  
  
TAPTAPTAPTAPTAP  
  
Spike opened his eyes slowly, and saw only red. For a moment, he wondered if he were laying in a pool of blood, his own maybe. No, it was too gooey to be blood, too warm. His eyes flicked around, and saw a large room, full of some of the most advanced looking devices he had ever seen.  
He held up his hand, becoming aware of his entire body again. He reached out, and felt his fingers press against a surface that seemed invisible to him. Maybe it was glass. He reached up, felt his chest, his arms, his shoulders, his neck. He tried to feel his face, but there was something in the way. His eyes flicked down, and met with the feeling of his fingers. There was some sort of mask covering his face, up to his nose. Maybe it was for breathing.  
TAPTAPTAPTAPTAP  
The sound interrupted his searching, and he turned his head.and almost died again.  
Staring at him was one of the most garish faces he had ever seen. Whoever it was gazed at him, grinning the kind of grin that Spike had only ever seen on rotted skulls. He tapped on the glass, Spike was certain it was glass now, with his free hand. The other hand was holding a mask like the one Spike had over his face. He tapped on the glass with his index finger, then drew his hand away from the glass, and made a slashing motion across his throat. Was he threatening him?  
Another knock, from another direction, drew Spike's attention away from the person watching him. He spun around, and saw another person looking at him. This one seemed less unusual than the other one. It was a man, dressed in something resembling a radiation suit. He held a clipboard pad in one hand, and a pen in the other. He held the pen up, and then moved his hand from side to side. Spike followed it with his eyes, not sure what else to do.  
The man turned his head to the side, and said something Spike could not hear. It looked like "They're awake!"  
Suddenly, Spike had the sensation of sinking. He looked down, and saw that the floor had opened up into a grate, and the red goo was draining into it. He looked all around him, saw the red stuff smearing down the glass, and realized that he had been floating in a tank of some sort.  
The glass walls around him lifted away, and a dozen hands were suddenly all over him with towels, wiping the red stuff off his body. The lights were bright, and he blinked as his eyes adjusted. He looked back at the person who had been in the tank next to him, and saw that he was getting the same treatment.  
The stranger stared at Spike, with eyes that Spike could only have imagined staring at him from underneath a rock. But yet.there was something horribly familiar in those eyes. The details of the face seemed recognizable too. After a moment of examining him, Spike felt the breath catch in his lungs, and he took an impulsive step back.  
He looks like.me!  
"Sssss" he stranger hissed between his teeth. "Ssss.Sp.Sp." he spoke slowly, struggling with each syllable, as if speaking for the first time. "Spah.Spaaaiiike."  
Spike felt the skin of his face go numb as the blood rushed from his head. The world suddenly seemed fuzzy, and he felt lightheaded.  
"Spike! Spike.Spike? Spike." He kept repeating Spike's own named, saying it in different tones and manners, as if trying it out the way a person would try a shoe on for size. "Spike. SpikeSpikeSpikeSpike!"  
Spike let a single moan escape his lips, and then felt is body go limp beneath him as he fainted dead away.  
  
Only the beginning cowboy. 


	2. Chapter 2

Cowboy Bebop  
  
Boys are Back  
  
2  
  
Jet Black sighed as he leaned back in his chair. He ran a hand over the smooth dome of his scalp, grunted with irritation. Tracking down bounties through hacking was much more difficult without all the help he had previously had. He now relied almost totally on tips from some of his own web of contacts, and a few of them had already cut off communicating with him since he was unable to repay so many of them.  
His thoughts were interrupted by the grumbling of his stomach. He chuckled at himself, and then shut down the computer. It was time for a snack.  
Twenty minutes and a plateful later, he was standing on the bridge of the Bebop, a plate of steaming food in his hand. He scooped it into his mouth as he watched the stars roll past him. The universe was a large, vast place. The only thing that now seemed to match it was the empty corridors of the Bebop itself. The loneliness of the ship was something he considered on a regular basis anymore. For a while, he had hated how many unwanted people had attached them to the old ship.now he wished there was someone other than him.  
He still saw Faye now and then. Whenever either of them had a bounty head that was more than one person could handle, they would combine their efforts till the goal was achieved. When he was really desperate for cash, he occasionally picked up hitchhikers of the far and open spaces, charging them a small fee for the trip. He sometimes wished Ed was still around, and then searching for his quarries would be a lot easier if he still had her hacking skills to rely on. But, who knew where she was now.  
That wasn't entirely true, he realized. She was on Earth, somewhere. He never had been able to figure out why she returned to that desolate garbage dump of a planet. He had once considered trying to find her, convince her to rejoin him on Bebop, but he had thrust the idea aside. She had a right to make her own choices, choose her own fate.  
But still.there was nothing wrong with a little visit between friends now and then. And if she decided to help him track a bounty or two.  
He smiled at the idea. It wasn't an entirely bad idea, either. It would be nice to see a familiar face again.someone he could trust. He sat down at the controls, and started to set a course.  
  
At the same moment, Jet was the last thing on Edward's mind. All she could think about was the pain that was wracking her body, and the terrible fear that stabbed her heart.  
She felt both of these in abundance when he punched her face again, causing her mouth to fill with blood. The force of the blow caused her entire body to convulse for a moment, and the handcuffs rattled behind her as her arms struggle against them.  
He stood up, towering over her like a tree over an insect. He glared down at her with his ice-cold eyes, and his mouth turned down in a sneer that implied anything.  
"Show me the Bebop, now" he growled at her, and pointed to her Tomato. Ed opened her mouth to try to say something, but all that came out from her lips was a trickle of blood, and a single, pearl white tooth. It fell from her mouth and shattered on the floor.  
He crouched down, bringing his eyes to an equal level with hers, and placed his hands on her shoulders, digging his nails into the flesh of her tiny body. "Show me the Bebop, now" he repeated. Ed shook her head limply, and then braced herself.  
He tightened his grip on her shoulders and neck, forcing his nails so hard against her skin that more blood trickled out of her. He head-butted her, the blow landing just above her nose almost breaking it entirely. Then he punched her in the stomach, causing the air to blow out of her body in a gasping bellow. He slapped the right side of her face, and then swung his hand back around to slap the other side. "Show me!" he shouted. Ed pretended to be knocked cold, hoping he would give up. He waited for an answer, and then grunted with frustration.  
Ed waited, hearing nothing but silence for a moment. Then she heard the unmistakable rattle of a dog collar, and the pathetic whimper that indicated violence. She opened her eyes, as wide as dinner plates, and beheld him crouching down, gripping Ein roughly by the fur on the back of his neck. He was holding a gun tight against Ein's skull, and he sneered menacingly at her. "Show me the Bebop now, or watch him die." He held the gun away from Ein's head, and fired a shot into the ceiling, to show the seriousness of his threat.  
Ed moaned, and then nodded her head.  
He uncuffed her hands, and shoved her in front of Tomato. He took a handful of her hair, and shook her head violently. "Do it, now."  
She tapped away at the keys for a minute or two, and then waited for his reaction. He took a single breath, deep and trembling when he saw the screen. He made a sound that Ed had heard only a few times before; the sound that the other orphans usually made when they first saw a box, tied up with a bow and wrapping paper, implying any number of possibilities.  
"Thank you" he whispered. Ed only had a moment to try to prepare herself as she saw him in the reflection on Tomato's screen. He pulled his hand back, and a moment later, she felt the sharp, jarring blow at the back of her neck, and then the world went dark.  
  
The hunt begins. 


	3. Chapter 3

Cowboy Bebop Boys are Back 3  
  
Faye Valentine sighed, and tapped her cigarette against the rim of the ashtray, sending a puff of black ash to tumble into it. She traced her finger over the rim of her glass, looking at her reflection in the rust colored substance it contained. She could not have been more bored.  
It had been almost four months since the last time she had worked with Jet. They had parted company without even so much as a goodbye, or even a "see you later." It had been three days since she had caught her last bounty herself, a small one at that, and the Redtail was still in the shop for repairs. In the meantime, she entertained herself by drinking and smoking away what money she had, while dodging debt collectors, and managing to wrangle a few days in a seedy hotel room from an overweight, under-bathed clerk who she had made small promises too.none of which she intended to keep.  
She was hardly aware of the loud music blaring, or of the writhing bodies that surrounded her. For some reason, she was able to channel all of that out. Right now, her thoughts drifted. She thought of her past most usually, of old dreams, old hopes, and old heartbreaks.  
She sighed, and took another sip of her drink. It had been almost a year and a half since Spike was gone, and truthfully, she missed him greatly. He had been one of the few people in the universe that she had really called a friend. And, as much as she hated to admit, she had had something of a schoolgirl crush on him. The few moments they had shared that could be considered intimate had been brief.but for her, they now seemed to last a lifetime.  
She took another drag of her cigarette. All around her, people danced as if there were no tomorrow.  
  
He stopped for a moment, and took a deep breath. She had been here, he could tell. Everywhere, her tasted her, smelled her, felt her. She was distinctive, not another like her. It was like a sixth sense; he could feel her presence, when he was close enough. There was, somewhere deep within him, a part of her, that he was sure would lead him to her.  
Faye.the name seemed to echo in his mind. It haunted him. It was like a mystical drumbeat that would boom boom inside someone's consciousness forever.  
How could the other have been so foolish? How could the other have gone chasing after the memories of the past when she was right there in front of him? She was alive, energetic, and full of vitality. She had tasted him, and wanted to be in his arms. She had begged him to stay with her, to not leave her, and he had gone anyway. What kind of hopeless idealist could have turned up such a chance?  
He closed his eyes, and smiled with satisfaction as he realized that he would not be so foolish, so idealistic. He would find her. He would stay with her, like the other had not. He would hold her in his arms, and never let go till he had crushed the life out of her. He would take every aspect of her that had once been part of the other, and make it part of him.  
And then, ah then.then, they would always be together.  
He opened his eyes, and his mind. She was near, he could feel it. Just a few more steps.  
He looked up. A neon sign at the entrance of a dance club blinked overhead. She was in there. He knew it. He felt her in the air.  
She was distinctive. There was not another like her.  
  
Ed blinked through the pain that was filling her body, much like the bruises that covered her flesh. She looked down at the handcuffs that she was shackled to the chair with. For a moment, she almost considered trying to gnaw her own hands off to be free of them at last. Ein was faring no better, the chain around his neck would constrict each time he tried to get away, and would almost strangle him till Ed begged him to stop trying.  
"Need a hand?" a deep, but soft and familiar voice spoke. She looked up, and felt her heart leap into her throat.  
"Ein! Lookie! Its."  
"Shh" he hissed, holding a finger up to his lips. "Don't say anything. He might still be around. Just hold real still, and I'll have you out of there in a second." He leveled his gun at the locking mechanism on the hatch, and emptied his rounds onto it. Before any kind of friendly banter could be shared, he looked Ed dead in the eyes. "Where did he go Ed? Where is he?"  
  
Faye threw her head back, and downed what was left of her drink. She stubbed out her cigarette in the ashtray, and then fumbled in her pocket for a few woolongs to leave as a tip. Her senses were deadened by alcohol, her hearing blocked by the loudness of the music. She could not detect what was coming in any way.  
She stood to leave, and felt herself walk into a brick wall. At least, it felt as if she had walked into a brick wall. Whoever shoved her back into the chair was solid and hard, but she was not in the mood for any hassling.  
"Hey jerk, you ought to." her voice died in her throat when she looked up at him. For a moment, she felt a lump lodge itself in her throat as she tried to speak. All she managed was a weak, faint whisper. "Spike."  
No, it wasn't Spike. The nose, the chin, the lips, those were all right. But the hair was a different color, and his eyes were completely different. No, there was something too dark about him, too sinister, too.  
When he heard her call him by that name, a wicked grin spread across his face, going so far that Faye almost thought it would go all the way around his head. His hand disappeared into the trench coat he was wearing, and emerged with a gun, exactly like Spike's.  
Her eyes centered on that gun. In a movement that only took a few moments, but that seemed to go so slow it took an eternity, he leveled it at her, taking dead aim, right at the center of her forehead.  
In a flash, she grabbed the ashtray and tossed its contents into his face. He shouted and stumbled back, his hand tightening in a reflex, causing his gun to discharge into the air. Someone screamed. Then a lot of people screamed. As the people filling the dance floor and bar became aware of what was starting to happen, they fled as fast as they could.  
Faye was hoping to join them, when she felt a hand, as strong and tight as a vice, clamp down on her throat. He kneed her in the stomach, and then drew her face close to his.  
"I know you, Faye!" he said, his voice a deep and powerful, but with a sharp metallic rasp to it as well. "I know you! I know how good Spike made you feel." He leaned in close to her, and whispered softly, "Touch me.the way that you touched him.taste me!" His other hand came up, and punched her hard across the face, sending her tumbling to the floor. "And I know how bad he hurt you in the end! I'd die to be the same to you.in fact, part of me did already!"  
She lay at his feet, stunned by the blow. As she struggled to regain herself, she heard the sound of a gun cock. She ground her teeth, and waited for it. The sound of a gun firing rang in her ears.  
But she was not dead. She opened her eyes. His gun was lying on the floor in front of her.  
"That's enough, 801" a voice as powerful as thunder, but as familiar as her own reflection barked from the other side of the room.  
Faye raised her eyes. Her jaw dropped open, her blood ran cold. Silhouetted in the doorway, wearing a brown trench coat, a cigarette clenched in his teeth, a gun in his hand, stood a ghost. Without even realizing it, she spoke his name.  
"Spike."  
  
Cowboy is back! 


	4. Chapter 4

Cowboy Bebop  
  
Boys are Back  
  
4  
  
"Spike" Faye's mysterious assailant snorted, the contempt in his voice clear as day. "Its just as well. Saves me the trouble of tracking you down later."  
"I don't want anymore trouble than I need, 801."  
"Stop calling me that!" The stranger screamed at Spike, the rage in his eyes blazing like a forest fire. His hand went into his trench coat, and emerged, the hilt of a sword clutched tight in his fingers. "I am not a number! Not an imitation! I have a name! I am Hakkou! I.am.a man!"  
With those final words, he reached into the inside of his coat and withdrew a long sword. The instant his hand disappeared into his coat, Spike cocked the shotgun he was holding, and fired off a shot. Faye's jaw dropped as she watched Hakkou swung his sword and sliced the bullet that had been fired at him in mid air, like a professional baseball player hitting his homerun.  
Hakkou lunged at Spike, swinging his sword over his shoulder, around, over his head, trying to cleave Spike from head to groin. But Spike threw his shotgun up, blocking the blade as it game screaming down at his head. As the two weapons collided, Spike tried to launch a kick at Hakkou's shins, but Hakkou stomped one of his feet down onto Spike's, trapping him in place. They both glowered at each other, and then reared their heads back, and slammed their foreheads together as they both attempted a head butt.  
They both grunted, stumbled back from each other. Hakkou tried to take a swing at Spike's abdomen, but Spike quickly took a jump back, the blade swinging less than an inch from his body. He launched forward with a kick, intending to hit Hakkou's chest as if there were a bull's-eye mark printed on it. But Hakkou sidestepped, grabbed his ankle, yanked him forward, and smashed an elbow into his chin.  
Faye watched the fight unfolding. She held her gun up, attempted to take aim, but they moved at a speed that was simply amazing. She could not get a solid fix on Hakkou, and she did not want to hit Spike.  
As Spike fell to the floor, stunned by Hakkou's blow, Hakkou reached into his coat once again, and withdrew a pistol. He unloaded a clip in Spike's direction, but hit only air as Spike scrambled out of the way, the bullets coming so close they left small tears in his clothes.  
Spike made a lunge for the shotgun he had dropped, but received a kick in the face as Hakkou moved to meet him. As Spike fell back, Hakkou retrieved the shotgun and took aim at Spike, laying prone on the floor. But the next shot came from Faye, not him. He dropped down into a split, a movement that stunned Faye, and after her shot whizzed over the top of his head, he came back up.  
As Hakkou went down, Spike leapt toward Faye, tackled into her, and threw her down behind some turned over tables, ducking down for cover as Hakkou shot at.  
"Spike!" Faye gasped as he slumped down next to her, "How did."  
"No time to explain" he said, dismissively, waving a hand at her. He reached into his pocket, and pulled out a crumbled pack of cigarettes, stuck one into his mouth, and reached then felt around his pockets for a book of matches. Finding none, he turned to Faye. "You got a light?" Faye's jaw dropped, struggling to believe that a dead man could be before her, trying to light a cigarette, even as an assailant she had never seen before was trying to kill them. She shook her head slightly, and Spike groaned. He cocked his pistol, getting ready, and then instructed her "I'm going to draw his fire. When he takes aim at me, I want you to hit him with everything you've got. Understand?" She nodded, and readied her own gun.  
Spike waited for a count of three, and then leapt out from their cover. Hakkou followed the movement over the barrel of the gun, but then, to Spike's utter astonishment, he turned to where Faye was standing up from, anticipating their plan perfectly. He fired off a volley of shots at Faye, who immediately ducked back down. Spike muttered a curse, and tried to think or what to do next.  
As if by some divine intervention, Hakkou stopped shooting, and grunted loudly, his face contorting. A growling noise rose to Faye and Spike's ears. All three of them turned their gaze down, and Faye felt her jaw drop once again. Was that.Ed, gnawing on Hakkou's ankle?  
Hakkou raised up the gun, intending to bring the butt end down onto Ed's skull, but Faye and Spike leapt into action before he could make the blow. Spike lunged in, and landed a hard kick square into Hakkou's chin, and Faye flowed by striking him hard across his face with her fist. Hakkou grunted, stumbled back against the bar, and fell over it, his body disappearing over the side.  
Spike jumped up into the bar, preparing to take aim down at Hakkou, but was interrupted when several small, orb shaped objects flew up over the bar and clacked on the floor. Spike's eyes grew large, and he immediately leapt down, grabbed Faye and Ed both by the arm, and shouted "Get down!"  
He pulled threw the two of them under some of the tables that were still standing, and then ducked down himself just as the grenades detonated, sending small shards of metal flying in all directions. Faye shrieked as one shard of shrapnel flew by and left a small gash on her ankle, but otherwise, they all went unharmed. The explosion ignited the alcohol that had been spilled everywhere, and the flames rose quickly to engulf the room.  
Spike looked up, and saw Hakkou standing on the bar, slowly sliding his sword back into its scabbard. He looked down at Spike, their eyes locking, and then drew his lips back in a snarl that Spike could only imagine seeing on the face of a wild animal.  
"So help me, I'll see you burn yet!" Hakkou hissed, and then leapt from the bar and darted out the door, disappearing before Spike could do anything.  
His instinct was to follow Hakkou, to track him down at finish with him. But necessity told him otherwise. The sound of Faye and Ed gasping as the flames licked nearer to them made him stay.  
He leapt over a puddle of fire, threw the table they were hiding under away from them, and held his hand out. Faye gripped it firmly, lifting Ed up with her other arm, and then followed as he led them out the door, and into the streets. The sound of sirens were growing close.  
Faye wrapped an arm around Spike's shoulder, the cut on her ankle making it a little harder to walk, and Ed wrapped one of her small arms around Faye's waist, the both of them leaning on Spike for support.  
"Who was that guy?" Faye asked him, trying to read any type of reaction on his face. But Spike was cold as steel, solid as granite.  
"He's me Faye. Part of him, anyway."  
  
Welcome back, cowboy. 


	5. Chapter 5

Cowboy Bebop  
  
Boys are Back 5  
  
"Owie! Faye-Faye, that stings!" Ed squealed as she squirmed.  
"If you'd hold still, it wouldn't sting" Fay grunted between her teeth. She tried again to apply the cream to Ed's injuries, and again, Ed squirmed away. Fay sighed, rubbing her forehead. She had a headache. "You want those to heal quickly, don't you?"  
"Hey, Ed" Spike said from window, where he was leaning, puffing dejectedly on his cigarette. Ed peaked over the chair where she was hiding to look at Spike. He held out one hand, balled up into a fist, and waved it around a little. Ed's eyes followed his hand, like a moth dancing around a flame. Spike eventually opened his fingers to reveal some small pieces of candy, and Ed scrambled past Faye to eagerly gobble them, almost taking Spike's hand with it.  
"Hey! Don't I get any."Faye was cut off when Spike put a finger to his mouth. She waited. Within a matter of moments, Ed was sound asleep.  
"You shouldn't have any trouble now" he muttered, and went back to gazing out the window.  
Faye stood there, stunned for a moment. The feeling of unreality came over her again. She treated Ed's wounds absently, her eyes never really leaving Spike. He stood with his back to her, his head in his hands, his arms resting on their elbows in the windowsill. He still displayed that trademark slouch of his shoulders. He seemed to be thinking of something else.  
After tending to her own bruises, Faye stood up and came up behind Spike. She hesitated, then reached out, and placed a hand on his shoulder, just trying to make sure this was all real. He did not seem to even notice.  
"All right Spike." she said, almost fearing what she would hear in response, "Time to start talking. Who was that guy? Why was he after me? How did Ed get here? Even better, how did you get here? You're supposed to be dead. I saw you're body."  
"Take it easy with the questions, Faye" he muttered as he turned to face her, rubbing his temples, "The past couple of days have been hard on me."  
"Hard on you?!" she shouted, disbelieving that she was even having this conversation. "I almost got killed by a guy who could have been you're twin brother, and then you come back from the dead, and then I get the hell kicked out of me, and you're saying its hard on you?"  
He silenced her by holding up a hand. He sighed, walked over to the small table, the only other piece of furniture in this small hotel room he'd been able to rent with what little woolong he had on him. He slumped down into the chair that accompanied the table, and leaned his head back, trying to think of the best way to explain.  
"All right. It all started about a two months ago."  
  
Spike sat, alone in an empty room. He kept reaching up and feeling his face, his chest, his arms, having trouble believing that he was still here. He stubbed out his fifth cigarette into the small ashtray sitting on the table. He did not know who these people were, but they seemed to know him well. They had his suit, all cleaned up, without even a hole in it from all the time's he'd been shot. They even had a pack of his favorite smokes in the pocket. Now, all he could do was wait till someone explained things to him.  
"You know, you really shouldn't chain-smoke, it's a terrible habit" came a voice from across the room. He wheeled around to find himself gazing at a man who was about his height, but much narrower in his shoulders. He wore a white lab-coat, and carried a clipboard. He walked over to Spike, looked down at him for a moment, and then slapped him firm across the face.  
Spike launched himself up, ready to lay this man out for that, but something held him back. The stranger was just scribbling notes on his pad, as if nothing had happened. "Good." he muttered, smiling to himself. "It looks like you're nervous system is functioning perfectly."  
"What the hell are you talking about? Why am I even here?" Spike demanded, grabbing the stranger by his shirt collar  
"Mr. Spiegel, there is no need for that. All will be explained." Spike released him, and watched as he straightened his collar, and then sat down in a chair opposite Spike's. He gestured or Spike to sit, and when he did, he smiled and said "Anything I can get for you? Coffee, juice? Or something stronger? I know you're fond of the bottle."  
"Who are you?" "Spike cut him off. "How did I get here? And who was that other guy?"  
"Well, I am Dr. Cornelius, and you are in a genetics lab. And that other person was you.and Vicious. I suspect there is a little of you're other friends in there too."  
"What?" Spike asked, his cigarette falling from his mouth.  
Cornelius leaned back in his chair, and sighed. "I see I will have to go right back to the start of things. Tell me Mr. Spiegel, what is the last thing you remember before you woke up here?"  
Spike hesitated a moment, as if savoring the taste of some fine dish. His mouth hung open, trying to find words. He thought, thought hard.  
"I remember.the fight with Vicious.stumbling down the stairway.then.cold.dark."  
"You were dead, for a little while, anyway." Cornelius said as if he were giving Spike the weather. He flipped through the pages on his clipboard. "So was Vicious. But, we managed to resurrect the both of you. Did a good job too, considering how rushed we were?"  
"Resurrect." Spike said, the word seemed to echo in his mind.  
"You see." Cornelius said as he stood up and came around the table. "The Syndicate went into a state of chaos after you're little fracas with Vicious. All their leaders turned on each other, and they began to crumble. Many of their top people were apprehended by the ISSP. But, a few managed to avoid capture, and decided that new leadership was needed if they were to stay in order. They needed Vicious back.  
"That is where we came in. The remaining Syndicate leaders contracted this facility to take the preserved body of their fallen leader, repair the damage done to his body, tissue by tissue, and restore him to jumping, screaming, sword swinging life.  
"But" he held up a finger, as if pointing to heaven, "They decided it would not be enough to just have Vicious back. They needed some new blood infused into their organization, someone with the proper vision who would help them reach new plateaus. That's where you came into the mix. You see, they preserved you're body as well, for reasons I cannot begin to fathom. They wanted us to repair you as well, wipe you're memory, and reprogram you to be Vicious' partner in crime. Like two peas in a pod, neh? Would you like a stick of gum?" he held out a pack of mint gum to Spike, who just stared, stunned by all the news. When he said nothing, Cornelius unwrapped a stick of gum, chewed in it for a moment, and then continued.  
"Somewhere along the way, they decided it would be a good idea to have a third body in the mix. An enforcer, if you will. Someone with the strength and ability to carry out your and Vicious' orders once you were both firmly in position as The Syndicate's new leaders. So they asked to see what we could do.  
"So, we just combined some samples from you and Vicious, and created someone totally new. The sums of all you're best, and worst parts. Project 801, the person who was in the tank next to you when you awoke. I suppose you should be happy, you are a daddy now, after all. Or is he more like you're brother?"  
Spike sat, dumfounded for a moment, before he stood up, his face turned down into a sneer.  
"You.you grew someone.from part of me?" he growled, his fists clenching up.  
"Don't forget, we made him from Vicious too." Cornelius stopped when he saw the way Spike was tensing up. "Now, before you try to use any of you're fancy pants martial arts on me, Mr. Spiegel, please let me finish. You see, it seems that 801 did not just inherit skill and strength from you and Vicious. He inherited you're rebellious, independent nature's as well. You see, once you feinted, he decided to fly the coop. Make a break for it."  
"What?" Spike said, getting tired of all of this.  
"I'm saying he's gone and run away, Mr. Spiegel. Right after you feinted, he savaged some of our people and made away in the ship The Syndicate made for him. That's why I'm here talking to you now. We want you to bring him back to us."  
Spike launched himself at Cornelius, grabbed his collar, and yanked him forward till they were so close that Spike's breath fogged up Cornelius' glasses.  
"You're the ones who made that.that thing! And you want me to make up for you're screw ups? I never even asked to be here!"  
"Now, now, Mr. Spiegel, you'd get to be doing what you love! Just like you're days as a bounty hunter, chasing after the criminals. We even have you're ship, we managed to buy it from an ISSP auction. And we."  
"Back to the loneliness." Spike said, dropping Cornelius literally on the floor. The narrow shouldered scientist landed on his butt, his clipboard clacking on the floor next to him. "Back to one day drifting into another, back to smoking cigarettes and having nothing to eat.no peace, no quiet. you expect me to trade peace for that? You're insane." Spike started to trudge away, searching for a door.  
"Actually, we had a different sort of trade off in mind." Cornelius said with a smirk. The moment he said this, a whole piece of one of the walls seemed to slide away, to reveal a tank much like the one Spike had been floating in. And inside it, there was a naked, female figure. When Spike saw it, he froze. He recognized the face of that person floating in the red goo.  
"My God." he said in whisper, "Julia!"  
"The bullets almost severed her spinal chord" Cornelius said as he came up alongside Spike. "But, The Syndicate got her to us in time. We've almost repaired her entirely. All she needs is a final jolt that will spark her back to life. We can restore her, Mr. Spiegel. Just like the Sleeping Beauty, being awoken by her lovers kiss. What do you say?"  
Spike reached out, touched the glass of the tank, and tried to pretend he was touching her face. Gazing into her eyes again. And he knew what he had to do.  
  
"And so, here I am." Spike finished his story, and leaned back in his chair, waiting to see how Faye would react.  
She stood there, trying to absorb all that information. Maybe it was too much to take in all at once, Spike thought.  
"I can't believe you're still chasing after her!" Faye burst out suddenly. Evidently she had absorbed it just fine.  
"Faye" he groaned as he got back to his feet "You don't understand."  
"I understand fine!" she continued to shout, "You're still chasing after the woman who brought you nothing but trouble! And after they gave you a whole new chance to live!"  
"I came back to help you, and all you ever brought me was trouble, didn't I?" Spike said suddenly. Faye gasped, felt a lump form in her throat. Spike and she had had some pretty sour exchanges in the past, but he had never said something so vicious to her.  
Spike hesitated a moment, as if he were thinking of apologizing, but then thrust it aside, and resumed his place in the windowsill. Faye stared down at the floor for what felt like a long time, and then finally came up behind Spike.  
"So.what do we do now?"  
"Hakkou won't come after us now that we're all together. He'll look for a softer target, one he is confident he can handle on his own."  
Hakkou."  
"I guess that's what he wants to be called. It means 'sad fate.'" Spike shrugged.  
"So, what do you think he's going to do."  
"He hasn't left the planet yet. I can tell that much." Spike reached up and placed a hand on his head. "I can.feel him, inside my head.like a scream echoing. He hasn't left yet. So we're safe for tonight. Tomorrow, we'll try to track him down."  
"And if he decides he doesn't want to go with you?"  
"He will. He doesn't have a choice in the matter. Neither do I." He flicked his last cigarette down into the streets, and then turned to Faye. "There's room on that bed for you and Ed. I'll take the first watch, just to make sure he doesn't try for you again. Get some sleep Faye. Tomorrow, we start searching."  
  
Tomorrow's a big day cowboy. 


	6. Chapter 6

I'd like to thank all of you who have read this story, and given such flattering reviews. It is good to know that the effort I put into writing this fic is appreciated. I also want to apologize for some of the crazy punctuation that seems to occur in it, but I wrote this on Microsoft Word, and it does not seem to have transferred the way I hoped it would. Keep reading, and keep responding!  
  
Cowboy Bebop  
  
Boys are Back  
  
6  
  
"So how will we know this guy's ship when we see it?" Faye asked as she looked around. There were dozens of ships at this port, many of which were of the same design or model as others. She was hoping Hakkou was piloting something unique.  
"It's a souped up military vehicle, with lots of weapons and heavy armor plating" Spike said as he also looked around. "Its called The Kraken, maybe he's got the name written on the side of it."  
"Weee! Ed find ship! Ed find ship!" Ed squealed as she ran in circles around both Spike and Faye, her arms outstretched as if she were trying to fly, Ein chasing after her, nipping at her heels.  
"Why would he need such heavy artillery?" Faye asked, simply trying to break the uncomfortable silence. Spike had been like a cold piece of metal since they had talked the previous night. She had never seen him so dead-set on something, so determined. In some ways it frightened her, and in some ways it made her feel a twinge of jealousy. He had never been so determined when she was in trouble, but Spike seemed willing to sacrifice the universe for Julia.  
"He's supposed to be an enforcer, remember? He was made to be muscle, nothing more. Just to kick ass and take names" he took a side glance at Faye, "You saw all the weapons he had on him when he came after you. It fits him perfectly."  
Faye went silent, and went back to searching for the ship. They had started their search at the crack of dawn, and it was now late afternoon. Ed had complained that she was hungry a few times, Faye had too, but Spike would not let them quit. The only way he would stop was once they had located Hakkou. Under different circumstances, Faye might have admired his single mindedness, but right now, she was more scared of what would happen once they found Hakkou.  
"Spike-person? Spike-person?" Ed said as she tugged on Spike's sleeve. He tried to brush her away at first, but when Ein bit his ankle, his attention was drawn away from his search.  
"What is it?" he growled at Ed, trying his best not to yell. Ed's lip trembled, and her eyes grew shiny as small tears began to form. Spike felt the words drain from his throat. He looked over at Faye, as if hoping she could lend him some support, but Faye gave him a shocked look, not believing that he had drawn tears from a child. He sighed, and crouched down to look Ed in the eyes. "Ed..I'm.I'm sorry. What do you want?"  
Ed hesitated only a second, before her broad grin returned. "Can Ed have more candy?"  
Spike groaned, and sank down onto his butt, feeling his frustration weighing him down. He looked down at the ground, despairing that he would ever reach his goal.but then, inspirations truck.  
"Sure Ed" he said, trying to conceal a sly smirk. "You can have more candy.if you can hack out where The Kraken is."  
"Ed find ship, get candy!" Ed squeeled as she began to run in circles again. Spike looked over at Faye, who was now giving him a smart looking smile. He winked, and she chuckled.  
  
"Have you found it yet?" Spike said as he peeked over Ed's shoulder.  
  
"Nopey, nopey! Not yet!" Ed said as best she could with two pieces of hard candy stuffed in her cheek, giving her the appearance of a chipmunk collecting acorns.  
"Give her a minute, will you lunkhead" Faye said as she sucked on a cherry flavored candy stick. Spike had had to buy her some candy as well, to keep her quite after he had brought some for Ed. She smirked and sucked on her candy stick, wondering if maybe it was making Spike think certain thoughts.  
A slight glance in her direction, and a shudder made her realize it was. She smiled triumphantly.  
"Lunkhead, lunkhead!" Ed sang enthusiastically as she typed away.  
"So, what have I missed?" Spike asked as if he had only been gone for a week. Faye gave it some thought for a moment.  
"Well, not a whole lot really. Jet and I tried to stick it together, partners, for a while after you." she hesitated, not sure if she wanted to say "after you died". "But we just lost enthusiasm I guess. So we headed off our own ways. Last I heard from Jet, he was looking up some old friends on Ganymede. And neither of us knew what happened to Ed."  
"Ed stay on Earth!" Ed added.  
"She found her father, again." Spike added, rather sourly. He rubbed his forehead. Just mentioning Ed's father made him remember the head butt he had received the last time they had met.  
"Ed had a father?" Faye asked, her candy stick almost dropping from her mouth.  
"HAD is right." Spike added, his eyes narrowing.  
"What do you mean?" Faye asked, getting a feeling she was about to hear something she did not want to. Even Ed slowed down in her typing, although her head did not turn to look at them.  
"I told you, Hakkou thinks if he wipes out everyone and everything that had anything to do with me and Vicious, that he will be absorbing out lives for himself. He wants to erase us to make room for himself. He's already got a good start on me."  
"Are you saying."  
"You're old boyfriend in jail.Jet's ex-wife on Mars.Ed's father on Earth. He tracked them all down and killed them, one right after the other. That was how he caught Ed. Ed had been following him, but she could never catch up to him because he was always on the move. But the moving stopped, and she eventually caught up. Only she found Hakkou instead of her father, waiting for her."  
"Ed.is that true?" Faye asked the red haired child, her heart aching with sympathy for the first time in a long time. Ed only nodded her head, still not looking away from her computer screen.  
"I guess he's setting his sights a little higher, now that he tried for you." Spike muttered. He walked over to the bag of hard candies laying on the bed, and plopped some into his mouth.  
"Ed found it! Ed found it!" Ed squeeled, causing Spike to jump, and almost choke on the candies he was sucking on.  
"Where?" he said, between coughs, as he leaned over her shoulder to look. Faye also hopped from her seat on the bed, and peeked over Ed's shoulder to see.  
"He just used a jump gate, and it looks like he's heading toward Earth again."  
"Earth? What could he want back on Earth?" Faye muttered.  
Spike stood, silent with thought for a moment. Then, his jaw dropped, his eyes widened, and his face went pale. "Spike, what is it?" Faye asked when she saw how he reacted.  
Spike opened his mouth, as if to speak, but then closed it again, and resumed his look of hard determination.  
"We have to hurry up and get to Earth, now!"  
  
The chase is on, Cowboy. 


	7. Chapter 7

Cowboy Bebop  
  
Boys are Back 7  
  
Jet groaned as he slowly pushed the barbell back up from his chest. He placed it back on the rack, and then took a breather. He had been orbiting Earth for several hours, and was sending out a signal that he was sure would draw Ed's attention. That kid spent more time in cyberspace than in real space, so it seemed impossible she would not notice such a disturbance so close to home. He chuckled as he remembered the sight of the red haired child, hunched over her computer, her fingers flying over the keyboard.  
In the meantime, he was trying to keep from going insane with boredom. He laid back down on the bench, and prepared to bang out another set. He found that it was important to keep in shape now, since he did not have others to back him up if things got too rough. But right now, he was looking forward to a little peace.  
  
The Redtail and The Swordfish both screamed out of the jump gate, their engines running full blast. Behind their controls, Faye Valentine clenched her teeth, hoping they would not be too late. Ein sat next to her, and whimpered, uncomfortable with her silence. Spike Spiegel manned Swordfish, with Edward sitting behind him. Edward was having a feeling similar to Ein; the silence, and the look on Spike's face were tormenting her with fear and concern.  
"Spike-person? Spike-person?" Ed asked, hoping for a response. But none came.  
"God, don't let us be too late." Faye muttered. She flipped a switch to open a channel to The Swordfish, and scolded Spike, "Why didn't you have Ed hack out where he was in the first place? It would have saved a lot of time!"  
"How was I supposed to know he'd ditch on us in the middle of the night?" Spike growled back.  
"Faye-Faye, Spike-person, don't yell!" Edward shrieked as she threw her arms around Spike. Spike groaned, and then tried to push Ed off him gently. "All right, all right, lets not squabble. Lets just get there."  
  
Jet grunted as he pushed the barbell up. As he took a moment to breath, he made a mental note. This was the last one. He would finish, then go shower, and then check to see if Ed had responded to his signal yet.  
He lowered the weight to his chest. He took several breaths, and then pushed it up. But suddenly, the weight increased in his hands. The bar slammed down onto his throat, his whole body convulsed from the blow. He gasped, trying to suck in as much air as he could. His eyes closed tight in pain. He clenched his teeth, tried to push the bar back up, but couldn't. He blinked, trying to see what was making it so heavy.  
He found himself staring into a pair of steel-cold eyes that glared down at him with a maniacal light. A face, that bore a hideous resemblance to Spike, grinned down at him like a deaths head. A pair of wiry, but amazingly powerful hands were pushing the bar down, down, down onto his throat, slowly closing off his breathing passage, leaving no air in his lugs, and unable to draw more in.  
"Bye-bye" the unknown assailant cackled down into Jet's face, "Bye- bye!" He pushed down harder.  
Jet groaned in anguish. His face felt as if it were on fire. His lungs felt as if they were swelling in his chest, and he almost thought they would explode, would cause his entire torso to explode, send bloody guts flying all over.  
He clenched his teeth, strained, and pushed up as hard as he could. The monster's strength was immense. He met Jet's force with his own, trying to keep the bar from leaving Jet's neck. The fatal tug of war continued for several minutes as Jet struggled to catch into the precious life that was quickly being strangled from him. His face began to feel numb, his vision was becoming blurred, small dots were playing all over, blocking out the light. He grunted, kicked his legs up, brought them down onto the bench, and gave one final, mighty thrust, summing up all the strength he possibly could!  
He pushed the bar up in a sudden, quick movement. It smashed into his attacker's face, catching him right above his mouth. He grunted, and fell back against the wall, clutching his face.  
Jet gave a great bellow as air flooded back into his body. He struggled to stand up, stumbled his way out of the door and into the corridor. He tried to make his way back to what used to be Faye's room, where he now kept his weapons stored. If he could just get something, anything, even a blunt club.  
Before he could even take a few steps, he felt a missile slam into his back. It hit with a force so powerful Jet was almost afraid his spine would snap in half. It threw him against the wall, banging his head hard. Before he could even try to move in his own defense, he felt himself ripped away from the wall, felt himself thrown against the opposite wall, and then yanked from that one and throw into the other, and back into the other, and back into the other.  
The attacker threw him to the floor, jumped onto his back, planting his butt firmly between Jet's shoulders and his hips, his feet flat on the floor. He cupped his hands under Jet's chin, and pulled back, trying to split the man in half right beneath him. Jet's arms flailed, trying to grab onto him, to pinch, to pry, to pull, anything! But he found nothing, and found his body yanked back further, causing him to scream with pain.  
The stranger pulled back, and back, and back more. Jet felt the muscles of his back, the bones of his spine stretching, stretching to the point where he knew they would snap before they could give anymore. He closed his eyes, waited to hear the sound of his body breaking. Instead, he heard a voice that had a familiar ring bark out.  
"Hey, tough guy!"  
Jet heard the sound of a blow land, felt the pressure on his back relieved suddenly, heard the sound of a body hitting the floor behind him.  
  
"You again!" the intruder hissed, and then lunged at whoever Jet's savior was.  
Hakkou aimed a punch at Spike's face, but Spike sidestepped, and swung himself around, trying to catch Hakkou with a kick. But Hakkou ducked, and Spike's foot soared over his head. With the agility of a wild cat, Spike swung himself around and tried to sweep Hakkou's feet from under him, but Hakkou leapt over Spike's sweeping leg, came down onto his feet, and tackled into Spike as he scrambled back to his feet. They struggled against each other as they rolled along the wall, and finally Hakkou landed a head butt onto Spike's face. He threw Spike aside like a bag of garbage, turned back to finish off Jet.  
And walked straight into a stiletto heel, which landed in his stomach with bone breaking momentum! Hakkou grunted, stumbled back, and looked up at Faye, his growing anger registering in his eyes. He seemed to take no time to recover, but instead leapt straight into battle again. Faye tried to launch a series of right and left jabs at him, but he dodged each one until he grabbed her wrist, yanked her forward to him, and brought his knee hard into her abdomen. He shoved her away, sending her to the floor.  
The sound of a gunshot ripped into the air, and Hakkou screamed when he felt the dart sting into his leg. He looked down, registered it was a tranquilizer of some sort, not a poison, and then looked up to see where it had been fired from. His eyes met with Jet at the end of the corridor, struggling to load another dart into the shotgun he held in his hands. He growled, tore the dart from his leg, snapped it between his fingers, and charged. Jet's eyes widened with panic, and he managed to fire off one more shot, the dart burying into Hakkou's chest. But it did not stop him. He grabbed the barrel of the gun, tore it from Jet's arms, threw it aside, and gave Jet a hard right hook across the face. Jet fell to the floor with a grunt.  
Before Hakkou could even prepared to finish any of them, a pair of wiry legs coiled around his waist, and a pair of tiny hands clapped over his eyes. He frowned, and then slammed himself back against a wall, knocking Ed cold in an instant. As Ed sank to the ground, Ein leapt to her defense, pouncing up and sinking his teeth into Hakkou's arm. Hakkou growled, and lashed his arm out, sending Ein flying the wall to sink down, unconscious alongside Ed.  
He stood for a moment, suddenly feeling light headed. He realized what was happening, and began to stumble toward the hanger, toward his ship, toward escape.  
"I don't believe it" Jet said as he got back to his feet to pursue him, "Two darts in him and he's still going!"  
Hakkou leapt out into the hangar, trying his best to stay awake. He felt his body-growing heavy, knowing the drugs Jet had just fired into him were taking a hold. He stumbled over to The Kraken, tried to make his way up the side into the cockpit.  
"Going somewhere?" Spike said from behind him. Hakkou looked over his shoulder at him, and then hopped down, turning to face him. He slouched, his knees weak under his body. His head swayed lightly from side to side as he tried to stay focused. "Don't even try, you're in no condition to keep going." Spike said.  
"I'm still.more than a match.for.yooooouuuu" Hakkou's last word lingered as he collapsed to his knees. He stayed upright for a moment, and then slumped forward, his body going limp as his sank into unconsciousness.  
  
"Spike!" Faye gasped as she came up alongside him. She looked down at Hakkou, assessed the situation.  
"He's out. Whatever Jet gave him, it worked. Just in time too, he was about to leave." Spike told her.  
"Spike! Spike, what the hell is." Jet stopped suddenly, freezing in the doorway as reality suddenly occurred to him. ""Spike." he whispered, "You're.alive?"  
"Hey Jet. Miss me?" Spike said, smiling smartly, waving at his old friend.  
Jet stood for a moment, and then his eyes rolled back in the sockets, and he feinted. 


	8. Chapter 8

Cowboy Bebop  
  
Boys are Back 8  
  
"We're living in a powder keg and giving off sparks  
  
I really need you tonight  
  
Forever's gonna start tonight  
  
Forever's gonna start tonight"  
  
Bonnie Tyler  
  
"How much longer?" Spike asked as he strolled into the control room of The Bebop.  
"We'll be there by tomorrow afternoon" Jet replied from his seat in the captain's chair. He leaned back, folded his arms, and closed his eyes. "Spike, are you sure you want to do this?"  
"Of course I'm sure. What are you talking about?"  
"Are you sure you can trust these guys? They are working for The Syndicate, after all" Jet turned and looked up at his old friend, still amazed that he was seeing Spike alive and well again. "I mean, how are you even sure they'll give you what you want once they have him?"  
"They will. I'll make them if I have to."  
Jet sighed, and then sat silent for a moment.  
"Well.it's getting to be about time to feed him." he said, breaking the quiet. He started to get up when Spike laid a hand on his shoulder.  
"It's Faye's turn. She's doing it now."  
  
Faye stood arm's length from Hakkou. He sat atop a small crate, his hands were each handcuffed to a pipe, and his ankles were duct-taped to keep him from kicking. She held out a mug of warm soup with a straw in it, and he stuck his neck out as far as he could to sip it. He took several gulps before pulling back and looking up at her.  
"Thanks. The milkshakes were starting to stick in my throat."  
Faye said nothing, but simply looked at him. The resemblance to Spike was utterly amazing. The lips, the chin, the nose, the cheeks, the forehead were all the same. His hair was even wild and poofy, just like Spike's. But his hair was gray, more like Vicious'. And his eyes were totally the wrong color. It was at that moment that Faye suddenly realized it; Spike's eyes matched now! She had noticed something seemed a little odd about him now, and she finally realized it. His eyes were no longer a slightly different shape of that hazel brown that had once entranced her. Now, they matched completely.  
"He's never going to accept you, you know." Hakkou's voice broke Faye's thoughts, and she looked down at him.  
"What do you mean?"  
"He'll never take you over Julia. You can think about it all you want, but he'll always walk off to die for her, rather than stay and live with you. He'll never appreciate that you wanted to be with him, still want to be with him. He'll always be blinded by his fallen angel."  
Faye stood in total silence, shocked by these venomous words. Her lip trembled, and she turned away from him, not wanting him to see it if she started crying.  
"What do you know about me?" she said over her shoulder.  
"I know almost everything about you. I know how rejected you felt after you and he spent that night together, and then he acted like it never happened. You thought about that a lot, didn't you? Of course you did. You kept thinking that you and he had made some sort of connection, but to him all it was, was just single night of liquor-induced lust. That hurt, didn't it?" He waited for a response, and when none came, he whispered "Look at me, Faye." He waited, but she did not turn to face him. "Look at me."  
She turned around and looked at him. His gaze softened, and he sat as far onto the edge of his seat as he could, trying to bring himself closer to her. "I'm everything you ever desired about him. All the qualities that you wanted are all here, embodied in me. I can be everything you wanted him to be.and so much more. All you have to do is.let me go."  
For a moment, Faye hesitated.  
"Faye! What the hell are you doing!" Faye jumped when she heard Spike's holler. She quickly turned and walked away from Hakkou, but she was stopped by Spike. "I told you to never talk to him! He'll just try to mess with you're head!"  
"I'm sorry." Faye said quietly, her head bowed, her eyes not meeting Spike's as she passed him. Spike turned, and glared at Hakkou. Hakkou simply smirked at him, and then winked.  
  
"Well, it looks like our little doggy has fetched his bone" Dr. Cornelius said as he eyed the monitor. On the screen, a single blip that represented The Bebop was growing closer to a second blip, which represented the lab.  
"Let them come" a cold, metallic voice hissed from the darkness behind him. "I'm sure he'll be very pleasantly surprised."  
  
"Spike, don't do it." Faye said. Spike stopped, mid kick, and turned to face her. He had been training in darkness, sharpening his skills, just in case he did have to force Cornelius and his cronies to keep their promise.  
"What?"  
"Don't do it.don't take him back to them." Spike frowned at her as he wiped his brow with a towel.  
"So, he did get inside you're head. I told you not to talk to him!"  
"Its not that." Faye said, "I just.I have a really bad feeling about this."  
"Faye, I told you not to worry. I am perfectly in control here."  
"No, you're not!" she shouted suddenly. "You never were! Don't you see that? They're just using you! Once they have what they want.who knows what they'll do? They might just kill you."  
"You don't understand Faye. You never did." Spike turned from her and strode out of the hallway, heading toward the living room area. Faye followed, continuing to plead her case.  
"They'll never give you Julia back, Spike. And even if they did, would it be worth it? Do you want to go off and get killed again because of her?"  
"Some things are worth dying for." Spike muttered as he walked into the living room. Ed sat in a corner, typing away on her Tomato. Neither Faye nor Spike noticed how her typing slowed down once they entered.  
"You went off and got killed once. Isn't that enough?" Faye demanded of him. Spike turned, venom in his glare.  
"Listen, you think you can tell me what to do? It's my damn choice, and I'll do what I want!"  
Faye stepped back, her eyes shining with the tears that were forming under them. Spike hesitated a moment, surprised at himself, but then turned away from Faye and went into the kitchen. He dug around in the refrigerator, seeking something cold to drink. All they had left was soda pop, he had been hoping for something stronger. But, it was better than nothing.  
"Spike." Faye said as she came into the kitchen as well. "Do you remember.that night, when we both had too much to drink.we came back, and tried to walk up the stairs, but instead we fell to the floor.and we."  
"Yeah, I remember." Spike tried to keep his back turned to her, trying not to let her see how her words were affecting him.  
"It may have meant nothing to you.but that night, when we were laying alongside each other.I forgot about everything for a moment. I forgot about discovering my past.about finding bounty heads.about everything.all I knew was that I felt like I was at peace."  
"And I forgot all about my past, and for the briefest of moments, I just lived in that night." Spike said. Faye looked up. She had not even noticed him come up to her. He stood before her now, looking down at her sad face.  
In a movement that totally surprised Spike, Faye threw her arms around him, and buried her face against his shoulder. Her sobs came like a flood. He hesitated a moment before he brought his arms up, wrapped them around her.  
"I just.don't want to see you.walk away again." Faye said between her sobs.  
Spike tried to think of something to say, but then decided it would be best to say nothing. For just this once, he decided, he would let Faye know that he did care.  
  
Moments last forever, cowboy. 


	9. Chatper 9

Cowboy Bebop  
  
Boys are Back 9  
  
Spike adjusted the restraining jacket one more time. He examined Hakkou's face. His skin was a rather unhealthy looking color. He had dark blotches under his eyes. Living off soup and milkshakes for almost a week probably did that. That, and all the tranquilizers they had been slipping him to keep him docile. It was a massive dose that now kept him asleep.  
He slammed the door shut. Hakkou was neatly tucked into a compartment in the back of Swordfish, which was intended for any sort of luggage or cargo, but also made a nice, neat place to keep bounty heads he had caught. He was hoping there would be no trouble on the way.  
"Spike." Faye said as she watched him, "I'm asking you one final time, don't do this."  
"Faye" Spike said, "I have to do this, whether I like it or not. Don't worry, I'm being careful for the first time in my life." He pulled his jacket and his pant leg up a bit to reveal his pistol tucked into his pants, and a knife tied around his ankle. He turned to climb into the cockpit of Swordfish, and heard the click of a gun cocking behind him. "Faye." he said with a sigh, "Let's not do this again."  
"I won't let you. Not this time."  
He hopped down, and came up right in front of her. He looked straight into her eyes. Faye hesitated, seeing the matched color of his hazel brown eyes.  
"Both my eyes are real now, Faye. And they both only see the present now. But maybe once I'm done with this, they can look to the future." He held Faye by her shoulders for a moment, his hands warm against her skin. She felt her mind go blank, blinded with indecision, and her gun fell from her hands.  
She stood like a statue, watching as he climbed into Swordfish, and took off.  
  
"I must admit Mr. Spiegel, I did not think you would be able to overtake him." Cornelius said as he watched some of his lab assistants pull a still unconscious Hakkou from the storage compartment of The Swordfish. Spike stood nearby, puffing nonchalantly on a cigarette, not even watching. Cornelius frowned when he saw Hakkou's sickly looking complexion. "I trust he is not badly damaged."  
"He's fine."  
"I hope so. We need him in tact if we are to find out what went wrong."  
"What do you mean?" Spike looked up, cocking an eyebrow. Cornelius began to walk from the docking bay of the lab, and Spike followed him, one hand in his pocket, the other hanging free. Every Syndicate security officer they passed took note of that. Cornelius did not notice at all. He was too busy talking.  
"Well, something must have been fouled up, otherwise he would not have revolted like that. So all we have to do is dissect him, examine his tissues, and find out what oversight we made that caused him to."  
"To have a mind of his own." Spike interrupted, the distaste clear in his voice.  
"I was going to say 'that caused him to step out of line', but have, it your own way." Cornelius gave another one of those smirks, and Spike felt the desire to wipe those stupid expressions off this wretched man's face growing.  
  
"Hey, where are you going?" Jet hollered at Faye as he watched her climbing into The Redtail.  
"Jet, we watched him walk off to get killed once. I'm not going to stand here and do nothing this time."  
"Its his choice Faye. We have to respect it."  
"He's a lunkhead, he doesn't know how to make good choices!" Faye shouted as she closed the hatch.  
"Hmm.good point." Jet muttered to himself as he scratched his chin. He stood silent as The Redtail roared out of the hangar. He stood for a moment, and then cursed to himself as he scrambled to climb into The Hammerhead.  
  
At the same moment, two of The Syndicate's security officers were making the first preparations for Hakkou to be dissected. They placed his still form onto a metal table, and slowly peeled the duct tape away from his feet.  
"This guy don't look so tough to me." one of them said as they pulled the last pieces from his ankles. "I think the boss is just exaggerating."  
"I dunno" his comrade replied, "For him to break outta here, then kill all those people, that takes someone real tough.or really crazy." They removed the restraining vest that Spike had placed onto Hakkou, and then prepared to start strapping him down to the dissection table.  
"Say, after this is over, you want to go get something to drink?"  
"Nah, I want to stay and watch this. I kind of like watching them cut the weird ones up."  
"Then you will love this." Hakkou said, his eyes suddenly snapping open. The two security men only had enough time to scream, once.  
  
"Now then, Mr. Spiegel, for you're reward." Cornelius said they entered the lab. Sitting against the far wall of the room was a large glass tube, and inside it was the lifeless Julia. She floated in the red goo, like a figure frozen in ice. For a moment, Spike felt his heart tug, knowing what he was about to do.  
"Shove it."  
"I beg you're pardon?" The answer came in the form of Spike's pistol pushing into Cornelius' back. Cornelius raised both his hands into the air, and felt drops of sweat suddenly forming under his collar. "This won't do you any good, Mr. Spiegel."  
"Shut up. I'm not that stupid. You never intended to give me what I wanted. You were just going to cut me up and then make me all over again, till you got what you wanted, weren't you?" Cornelius was silent for a moment, before he grinned to himself as he replied.  
"Well, The Syndicate did pay us to deliver you to them as a full fledged leader of their organization. It would not do to have you running around wanting to catch bounty heads all the time, would it?" Spike responded by shoving his pistol hard against Cornelius' spine. The grin vanished as he realized that perhaps this hotheaded bounty hunter was serious. "Mr. Spiegel, surely you can't blame me for what The Syndicate wanted us to do."  
"Yes, if you are going to blame anyone, blame me" a cold, metallic voice hissed out of nowhere. The blade of a sword swung down and cut Spike's gun clean in two. Spike jumped back, taken totally by surprise as Cornelius ran and threw himself behind Julia's tube.  
Spike quickly turned to see who this new attacker was. And when he saw, his jaw fell hard enough to hit the floor. His blood turned to water, and the entire world dropped away as his full attention focused on the figure standing before him.  
"Vi-Vicious!" 


	10. Chapter 10

Cowboy Bebop  
  
Boys are Back 10  
  
"Gonna be a rumble out on the promenade  
  
And the gambling commission's hanging on by the skin of his teeth  
  
Well now, everything dies, baby, that's a fact  
  
But maybe everything that dies someday comes back"  
  
Bruce Springsteen  
  
"Hmm, a pretty tough looking security system they've got down there." Jet muttered as he examined the laboratory base through The Hammerhead's monitors.  
"There has to be some way in there." Faye mused as she also looked over the forces they were about to put themselves up against. Even to someone who was used to being shot at, the defenses of the lab were impressive.  
Jet considered a moment, and then was struck by a bolt of inspiration.  
"Hey Ed" he said as he opened a line with The Bebop. At first, Ed was not visible, and he heard in response was Ein's yipping. He frowned. "Ed, wake up! This is important!" After a moment, Ed's sleepy eyed face appeared in his view.  
"Hmm.what is it Jet-person?" she said as she rubbed her eyes.  
"Ed, we need a little favor," Faye said sweetly.  
"What, what?"  
"Better make it quick Faye." Jet said, a sudden urgency growing in his voice. "It looks like we're about to get some company."  
Faye glanced up, and saw the blips on Redtails radar, all of them headed in their direction.  
  
"Didn't they tell you that The Syndicate wanted me back? You were just an afterthought, Spike." Vicious said as he glared into Spike's eyes. "Julia is going nowhere. And you are going.nowhere, ever again."  
Spike made a quick move, reaching under his shirt, trying to pull his gun out. But Vicious beat him, moving like lightning, as he leapt forward and jabbed the tip of his sword into Spike's shoulder. Spike clenched his teeth, groaned with pain. Vicious' characteristic grin spread across his face, and he pushed the blade into Spike a little further, before yanking it out with savage force. The attack sent Spike sprawling to the floor. Vicious pounced, ready to drive his blade through Spike's chest, but Spike rolled to the side, scrambled for his pistol, and brought it up just as Vicious' blade leveled on his throat. They found themselves in an all too familiar position, waiting to see who would make the first move.  
"You look even more pathetic than the last time I saw you, Spike."  
"You still look like the nightmare I never woke up from."  
Vicious hissed through his teeth, and grinned.  
"Well, none of it matters. It's far too late now. Too late for you, too late for Julia, and."  
Before Vicious' could finish his statement, another sword pierced through him, entering just below his shoulder blades, exiting through the center of his chest, jamming through his rib cage. Vicious straightened with pain, screamed like a scalded animal. He grabbed the blade that was now protruding through his chest, as if he did not believe it was truly happening, had to be confirmed with his own touch.  
"And too late to stop me, Vicious!" Hakkou hissed from behind Vicious as he gave the sword a wicked twist. "Too late to stop me from making you're life mine, forever!" He placed his pistol right up against Vicious' back, fired off four shots, the bullets bursting out of Vicious' chest like blood soaked rockets, the warm, red fluid flying in all directions, splattering over Spike's face.  
Vicious gave one last scream, but it came out of his mouth as a gargle. It was accompanied by a splash of blood that poured out of his mouth and trickled onto the floor. He shivered slightly as the cold overcame him, and then collapsed.  
Spike watched, his jaw hanging open, as Hakkou pulled his sword from Vicious' body. He stood up straight, his shoulders rising and falling as he tried to catch his breath. He looked up, leveled his burning gaze on Spike. "And now." He raised his hand, his gun clutched firmly in his fingers. He aimed it straight at Spike, but at the last moment, his eyes flicked elsewhere.  
Spike followed his gaze, realized his intentions, and screamed as loudly as he possibly could.  
"No!"  
Hakkou spun in place, leveled his gun at the tank containing Julia, and fired off two shots. It only took seconds to happen, but for Spike, it all moved in slow motion, taking almost forever.  
The bullets slammed into the glass of Julia's tank, creating white blotches of damage. Cracks slowly began to web off from the impactions, the red fluid seeping through them, first a trickle, then a steady stream, then a flood as the glass gave way and shattered completely. Julia's body shuddered, as if alive for the briefest of moments, and then fell, riding the stream of red liquid out of the tank, onto the floor. Hakkou took aim one final time, fired off his last two shots. And that was all it took.  
Spike gasped, and felt his stomach turn into a bottomless black hole. A single tear rolled down his cheek as he looked at what used to be his fallen angel.  
Hakkou turned back, and stared daggers at Spike. His arm raised, fist clenched. A single finger poked out, and pointed directly at Spike. His face lowered into a fiercesome sneer as he growled, "And you are next!"  
  
Get ready for the fight of you're life, Cowboy! 


	11. Chapter 11

Greetings once again. I am glad to see that so many of you have found this fic so enticing, and am once again grateful for all you're reviews. I write this time to give a small warning to those of you who detest violence, or who have weak stomachs, this chapter is ultra violent! So if you don't like hard punches, lighting kicks, and lots of bloodshed, then read no further. If you love a knockdown, drag-out fight, read on!  
  
Cowboy Bebop  
  
Boys are Back 11  
  
Hakkou lunged at Spike, switching the grip of his sword so he handled it like a butcher knife, intending to jam it downward into Spike's body. But Spike moved just in time, rolling out of the way, kicking his legs out, entangling his legs with Hakkou's, tripping his pseudo-brother, sending him sprawling out on the floor. Spike dove for the pistol Hakkou had dropped, but his reach was interrupted when Hakkou's foot stomped down onto his hand.  
Spike looked up into Hakkou's eyes, watched him raising the sword. In a flash, Spike yanked a small pocketknife from under his shirt and jammed it into Hakkou's ankle, giving a savage twist, yanking it out as hard as he could. Hakkou shrieked and leapt away before Spike could give him a second jab. Spike tossed the knife expertly, and watched it sink up to its hilt into Hakkou's shoulder. Hakkou shouted, dropped his sword, yanked the knife from his flesh, tossed it aside, his hands stained with blood.  
With a savage roar, he lunged forward. But Spike had now retrieved the fallen gun, and fired off a single shot, not even bothering to aim, just hoping to hit his opponent somewhere, anywhere. The bullet tore into Hakkou's hand, ripping three of his fingers off, leaving him with just his index finger and his thumb. He screamed and hunched over, gripping his bloody stump of his hand as the blood flew from it, projected by the ever intensifying beating of his heart.  
Spike hurried to his feet, tried to steady his trembling hand for a single, well-aimed shot. Hakkou hissed, and suddenly flung his injured arm out, sending a splash of blood into Spike's eyes. Spike cursed as he dropped the gun, tried to rub the red liquid out of his face. But he could not move fast enough. Hakkou speared into him, smashing full force right into Spike's abdomen, threw him away like a sack of offal. Spike tumbled in the air for a moment, and landed amongst the shattered glass of Julia's tank.  
"You can't beat me, Spike!" Hakkou growled, "I'm stronger than you, stronger than Vicious, than Jet, than Faye, than any of you ever were!"  
"No copy is ever as good as the original" Spike blasted back as he made his way to his feet, getting ready for the real fight to begin.  
"Soon, there will be no copy! After you, I'll finish Jet and Faye, and then I will be Spike! I will be Vicious! Only room for one of us in the universe!" Hakkou's lips curled over his teeth, and he threw himself back into the fight.  
  
"Ed, how much longer is this going to take?" Faye shouted as she maneuvered Redtail around another set of rockets. The Syndicate's pilots were terrible shots, but there were certainly a lot of them.  
"Just a minute Faye-Faye" Ed replied in a rather singsong voice as she continued her hacking.  
"Those are military grade rockets," Jet growled as he blasted one of The Syndicate ships apart, "They have built in guidance systems!"  
"I think I noticed that!" Faye shouted as the rockets she had just dodged swung around midstream, and came back after her.  
"Almost dooooone" Edward sang as the pursuing rockets drew closer to Faye.  
"Hurry it up!" she said between her teeth.  
As if the rockets themselves had heard her request, they suddenly veered off their pursuit of Faye, and flew off in different directions. Faye and Jet both heard The Syndicate goons' screams as their own rockets slammed into their attack ships.  
"All gone" Edward said, smiling at Faye through their communication screen.  
Faye gave a long sigh of relief, and then offered Edward a smile.  
"Thanks, Ed. We'll be back in time for supper."  
"Bring Ed lots of souvenirs!"  
"If there's anything left after this is all done" Jet muttered as they swung down toward the lab's hangars.  
  
Hakkou wrenched his arm tighter around Spike's throat. He stood behind Spike, his good arm coiled around Spike's neck like a python. He slid his other over Spike's shoulder, shoved the bloody remnants of his hand into Spike's face, smeared the life giving liquid all over Spike's nose, mouth, and chin.  
"Drink it! Drink it till you choke!" he hissed.  
Spike desperately tried to pull Hakkou off his feet, to flip him over his shoulder, but Hakkou's feet remained firmly planted on the floor. He stomped down on Hakkou's feet, but he did not budge. He jammed his elbows into Hakkou's sides, but all he did was grunt.  
Spike gasped as Hakkou tightened his grip, cutting off all his air. Spike clawed at Hakkou's arm, tried to pull it away from his throat. But his grip was like a vice, cold and tight.  
In a final move of desperation, Spike threw his head back, catching Hakkou right on his nose. At the same moment, he bent his knee, kicked on of his feet backwards, and caught Hakkou firmly right between his thighs. Hakkou wrenched his grip tighter, and then loosened it with a low moan as his good hand reached down to cup his crotch.  
Spike fell to his knees, gasping and coughing. He rolled over onto his back, and glared up into Hakkou's eyes.  
"Yeah, well fuck you too!" he said as he launched both his feet up into Hakkou's chest. Hakkou bellowed as the blow knocked all the wind from his body, and Spike curved his spine, rolled himself back, flinging Hakkou over the top of him. He slammed into the floor with a grunt, but scrambled back to his feet almost instantly.  
Hakkou tacked into Spike, coiling his good arm around his body. They stood, struggling with each other, muttering curses into each other's ears. Hakkou hissed, and sank his teeth down into the flesh of Spike's neck. He ground his teeth slowly, trying to gnaw his way down into Spike's arteries. Spike groaned, and began to twitch his head to the side, slamming his skull into Hakkou's, trying to make him let go. In response, Hakkou bit down even harder. But he let go after the familiar sound of a gun being fired broke the silence of their struggle with each other.  
Hakkou screamed, and fell down to his knees, his good hand going to his back, as if trying to scratch an itch that is impossible to reach. Spike watched him go down, and then looked up to see where the shots had come from. And he was surprised, not unpleasantly, to see Faye standing in the doorway, her gun smoking in her hand.  
"Spike" she shouted to him, "We have to get out of here! This whole place is going to go!"  
"What?"  
"A self destruct mechanism" Jet said as he came up behind Faye. His cyber-arm was wrapped around the throat of Dr. Cornelius, his face turning red as he strained to free himself from Jet's iron grip.  
"They told me to destroy the lab.if things didn't work.you've got five minutes!" Cornelius strained to speak. Jet released him, and he collapsed to the floor gasping and coughing.  
Spike stepped over Hakkou as he lay, curled into a ball of pain on the floor. The three of them, Faye, Jet, and Spike rushed down the corridors of the lab, making their way to the hangar. As they went, the floor began to tremble as bit by bit the facility exploded. "Wait! Wait for me!" Cornelius screamed as he tried to chase after them. They turned back, just in time to see one of the walls collapse inward. The explosion blasted less than a foot from Cornelius, and he was engulfed by force, flung against the other wall, and then he lay motionless on the floor. Spike grunted, shook his head in lament for the fallen scientist, and then continued.  
A major blast shook the whole building as they entered the hangar. The vibrations threw the three of them away from each other.  
"Shit" Spike muttered, "This place really is going down." He headed for Hammerhead with Jet. But they stopped when they heard Faye's scream. They slowly turned, to find Faye, firmly in the clutches of Hakkou. His eyes bulged, almost ready to pop from their sockets. His ribs rose and fell hard with his strained breaths. His good hand was gripping Faye's throat tight. His lips curled, and he spat some blood onto the floor.  
"You really don't know when to quit, do you?" Spike said as he slowly made his way toward them, measuring each step carefully.  
"Only room.for one." Hakkou managed to say between the blood that was coming out of his mouth. He tightened his grip on Faye's throat, and Spike dropped into a combat-ready stance. But then, Hakkou did something none of them had ever anticipated.  
He shoved Faye away, throwing her straight into Spike's arms. "Go! Now you fools!" he screamed. He groaned, clutched his wounded ribs, and turned from them, stumbling back toward the entry to the hangar.  
Spike and Faye hesitated a moment, watching him go, and then they both scrambled to make their way to the ships. As the engines fired, they watched him lean in the doorway. He paused, looked over his shoulder at them, and then walked back into the darkness, disappearing from their sight.  
"Only room for one." Spike whispered to himself as they streaked away. None of them paused even once to watch the lab as it exploded behind them.  
  
The calm comes after the storm, cowboy. 


	12. Chapter 12

Cowboy Bebop Boys are Back 12  
  
Spike had reclaimed his familiar position on The Bebop; lying on the couch, his body covered with bandages. He faded between being asleep and being awake, not entirely sure how long he had been lying there. His mumbled attempts at speaking were muffled by the bandages over his face.  
He blinked his eyes open, and rolled his head to the side. He was alone in the room, except for Ed, who was sleeping, curled up on the floor over in the corner. She mumbled something, rolled over on her back, rubbed her tummy. She was probably dreaming about food.  
Apparently Spike had been dreaming of food as well, for his stomach growled like a brooding tiger. He smirked, and tried to sit up, but felt a sharp pain shoot through his body. He collapsed back onto the couch, groaning.  
"Hungry, huh?" Spike's eyes rolled over toward one of the entranceways, where Jet was leaning against the doorway, arms crossed over his chest.  
"Yeah" Spike said, thanking whatever divine intervention had kept any bandages from having to go over his mouth this time. "What's for dinner?" Jet stepped forward and placed a cup of instant noodles down on the coffee table in front of Spike. Spike looked at it as if Jet had just set down some monstrous insect. "The refrigerator was full of food a couple of days ago." he muttered.  
"Funny how suddenly having a lot of unexpected company can make food disappear." Jet said as he sat down opposite Spike. He tugged the string under his own cup of noodles, and it popped open with a hiss.  
At the sound of food, Ed's eyes popped open. She sat up like a shot, and quickly scanned the room. When she saw Jet slurping his noodles, and Spike reaching for his own cup, she scrambled over on all fours.  
"Food-food! Any for Ed?" Jet tossed her a cup.  
"Ever heard of meat, Jet?" Spike said, frowning as he opened his own cup.  
"We have some milk with chunks in it, and some fuzzy bread, if that's more you're taste" Jet grumbled as he slurped his noodles. Spike sighed, and ate.  
  
Spike opened his eyes, and blinked the sleep away. He was not sure how long he had been asleep this time. He looked around, trying to see if there was anyone else in the room. At first, he saw nothing, but slowly he became aware of a presence behind the couch.  
"Someone there?" he said, managing to sit up this time. He was rather surprised to see Faye standing against the wall, watching him.  
"You look like a mummy, know that?" she said the question with a slight air of annoyance. Spike smirked.  
"I've been told."  
"I seem to remember seeing you like this before."  
"You make it sound like that's a bad thing." He slowly put his feet down onto the floor, and tried his best to stand. He made it about halfway when he slipped, and found himself falling. But before he hit the floor, he felt an arm wrap around his waist and pull him up. He turned his head, and gazed straight into Faye's eyes. They both hesitated for a moment. They gazed at each other, as if they were seeing each other for the first time. They both seemed on the verge of saying something, but neither one of them wanted to be the one to say it first. After a few moments that seemed to last forever, Spike took one of Faye's hands in his. She looked down at their linked hands, and then back up at him. He offered her a friendly smile. "Thanks."  
She helped him limp his way up to the bridge of Bebop. They both gazed out into the vast reaches of space, savoring a moment that neither of them would forget.  
"They're offering a big reward for the mass murderer who's been killing people all over the place." Faye said. "Its almost too bad he died. Maybe we could have made something off him."  
"I'm actually glad he's at peace now." Faye's jaw dropped, and she looked threw Spike an utterly shocked expression. He did not even turn to return her surprised gaze, but simply continued to stare out into space. "He was part of me, Faye.and like or not, I was part of him too. I can still feel him a little.inside my head.sort of like the first time you're in love.it stays with you.unless you experience something that much better." He gave Faye's hand a small squeeze when he said this. For some reason, she found that rather comforting.  
"There's a pretty hot bounty on Pluto" Jet said as he came up behind them. He raised an eyebrow when he saw their hands joined, but then shook his head, not wanting to think about it.  
"How hot?" Faye asked.  
"About fifty million woolongs. Dead or alive."  
"Sounds fun." Spike said with a smile.  
"Fun, fun, fun" Ed giggled as she scampered into the room. She galloped up to Spike, and clung to his leg. In a gesture that took Faye, Jet, and Ed all by surprise, he reached down and ruffled her hair. Ein came trotting in after her, and plopped down onto the floor next to Jet. "Ed missed Bebop" Ed said as she rubbed her face against Spike's pant leg. In that small statement, she had summed up the feelings of all of them.  
"How long to get to Pluto?" Spike said.  
"About two days" Jet replied.  
"And anything can happen along the way" Faye added.  
"Just the way I like it." Spike smiled.  
The five of them stood on the bridge of Bebop, looking toward the future.  
  
Somewhere in space.  
Buried beneath the rubble of the lab, there was a soft blow. A dim red light emitted from a glass tube, which was filled with a gooey red liquid.and something else.  
The body that floating in the tank looked like Spike, but it had Vicous' hair, and its mouth had sharp corners, much more like Vicious. It hovered, suspended in the warm liquid, looking as if it were asleep. Its face was pulled into a soft expression that implied the sleeper was lingering in a perpetual dream state.  
But the dream must have been coming to an end, for the body shuddered, and then balled its hand into a fist.  
  
See you, space cowboy. 


	13. A Message For The Readers

Greetings out there, true believers! I am writing you this message to give you all an updated! First, I would like to thank all of you who reviewed this fic, and say that I am glad you all got so much entertainment out of it. I am especially thrilled to be getting multiple reviews from people who are following my other fics on this site, and I can't thank you enough for becoming the first groupies of my work. Now, on to the good news! A sequel to this fic, entitled "Hakkou Returns," is currently in the works. I had intended to have it started by now, and even posted a premature chapter, which I have recently removed. I am afraid I have become engrossed in a couple of other fics that have been absorbing a lot of my creative energy. Those of you who have been following my work know what I mean, and for those who don't, I will now give a shameless self promotion: check out "Shook Me All Night Long" under Furi Kuri FLCL, and "Demons of the Past" under Trigun. "Hakkou Returns" is currently in pre-production stages, but I should have the first few chapters up within the next couple of months. I hope no one minds the wait. In the meantime, read on, true believers! Your loving author, Djk1982 


End file.
